Consequences
by Isazu
Summary: A three shot about what happened after the season finale.
1. Chapter 1

"I'm really sorry about this. I just can't focus on anything while Toby and Happy are suffering." Paige tried to explained herself for the third time in the last half hour. Since they had left the garage, her mind couldn't stop thinking about Happy, Toby and of course Walter. Her team was in pain, and she felt horrible being in a car with Tim going to Tahoe to a Jazz festival and leaving them when they needed her the most. Sure Toby had told her that he didn't want to talk to anybody and Happy usually was never up for a talk but still going away made her feel like she was deserting them.

However if she was entirely truthful Walter was the one person that she couldn't walk away from. The way he broke down in front of her about how he seemed to be thinking of her just like Paige kept thinking of him made her heart ache. For months now she was sure that Walter had moved on from their relationship or whatever they had, but now a ray of hope came charging in just to be destroyed by him at the same moment. Paige's mind kept replaying moments between them, little glances to each other when they thought the other one wasn't looking, the way Walter kept making the coffee just the way she likes it even when nobody else did, how he was such a good father figure for Ralph. The memories started flowing back with more intensity when a bump in the road suddenly made Paige come back to the present and realize that while she was reminiscing Tim had been talking to her which only made her feel worse about asking him to go back to the city. "Sorry, I got distracted. What were you saying?"

Tim took his hand from the wheel and gently put on Paiges hand giving her a little squeeze while giving her a small smile. "Don't worry Paige. I understand that is not the best time for us to go away, I'm actually really worried about them too. I know I only been with the team for a short period of time, but I actually thought Toby and Happy were perfect together."

Paige smiled at how concern he sounded, Tim was an amazing guy that keep proving to her how much he wanted to have a relationship with not only her but Ralph and in the context she was living the attention was more than welcome. Not many people could work with the team, she had learned rather quickly that what they saw like normal behavior translate like rudeness to the rest of the world including her on some occasions. As time went by Paige understood them better, and the fact that they helped Ralph open up not only to her but the rest of the world make her love them even more. When Tim came into the picture, she was amazed at how comfortable he was with them he was open about his situation with the Navy Seal and didn't feel like he needed to proof anything to them and still respect and complement their accomplishments.

The couple continued to talk about what had transpired between their friends in the garage hours ago both of them wondering who exactly was the person Happy mention and the possibility that it was just an excuse the girl told in the heat of the moment. They soon dismissed that hypothesis because Happy was not afraid to speak the truth so now they were just left to wonder who could she had married with neither of them knowing much from the past of the team the conversation quickly die down. They were already in the city by then, and Tim suggested going to grab something to eat, but Paige was really in need to see Walter.

She agreed to go eat but proposed they went by the garage first so they could check up on Toby, in reality, she wanted to see Walter's reaction to seeing her back. If by any chance he would show any sign of relief or happiness she would know that there was still a chance for them. Sure the situation between Happy and Toby was scaring Paige a little too about the future of the team, but she wanted to have a chance with Walter. His breakdown had shown her that he had mix feelings about their decision of been apart, the moment where Toby was singing his declaration to Happy she was so happy for them and without even thinking about Paige found herself turning to see Walter.

To her delight, he was looking at her and for a second her heart was full of hope, and she wondered if maybe at some point they would be in a situation like the one their friends were living, that wish though was destroyed when Happy said no.

Finally, the car came to a completely stop and Paige focus herself in not running toward the garage. Tim came to her side of the car and open the door for her, and she couldn't help the smiled that came to her face remembering the mission when she had gone on a date with Walter. He had walked out of the car toward the mansion, without opening her door, it took him a couple of seconds to understand why she didn't follow him but then came back to open her door. Things had changed a lot between them since then, Walter was definitely more attentive with her but that night would always be special for her do to the dance they had shared.

While walking to the garage she saw that the company car was gone and wonder if maybe Toby had gone after Happy, after all, a second later she found herself inside the garage with Tim hearing what seemed snores coming from the sofa. They walked in and saw Toby laying face down on the couch and a bottle of Tequila tossed on the floor completely empty if Toby was here who had taken the company car?. Tim told her that he was going to check if someone else was in the garage so they could help him take Toby upstairs so he could lay on the bed, Paige knew Walter wouldn't feel comfortable with Toby sleeping in his bed but it was an excuse to go looking for him. Quickly she told Tim that she would go looking upstairs while he checked downstairs been careful not to make much noise so they wouldn't disturb Toby, although she was pretty sure nothing could wake up the doctor for now.

Paige started her way upstairs fixing herself a little bit and wonder into the dark loft, her heart beating faster by the second in the anticipation to see Walter laying in his bed. She softly called his name, but no response came back, taking a few steps in she found the switch and turned the light on and quickly realize that she was alone. A sense of sadness washed over Paige not only because he wasn't there and she couldn't see his reaction but mainly because he had left his friend in need. In the last year, Walter constantly had proof to Paige that his EQ was raising, and she was so proud to help him understand the parts of the world that escape him but tonight even after his speech he seemed to have taken a step back.

With a deep breath, she went downstairs where Tim was trying to help Toby into a more comfortable position without any help of the drunk psychiatric. Paige came to his side and between the both of them, they managed to move Toby upstairs to the bed after been sure he was ok Tim went downstairs to get a glass of water while Paige got aspirins. After setting both things next to the bed, they put the alarmed in the garage and went back into Tim´s car.

Once inside Paige saw Tim trying to adjust his seat and remembered about his back problems, even though it was evident that taking Toby upstairs was going to mean pain for him he had insisted in helping the doctor spent a better night. Things like this were the main reason why Paige thought so highly of him, he wouldn't have left a friend in need alone no matter what the excuse was, not like Walter had done. Paige suggested to Tim that they just went back to her place, they could order in, and he could lay on her couch while they waited so his back would have some time to readjust. Tim tried telling her that he didn't want to impose but she was stubborn, and he was glad for the company.

Minutes later they were in her apartment, and Tim was on her couch trying to joke about the entire situation making the situation less awkward, even in his discomfort he had insisted on carrying her bags upstairs when they saw that the elevator was broken again. They quickly decided on Chinese food and Paige took her cellphone out noticing for the first time that it was dead, she wasn't in the mood to unpacked in search of her charger so she just tossed it on her bed and used the landline. That night they talked about their childhood and she opened up about her desired for Ralph to have the best of both worlds, the one where he was a genius and the one where he could interact with other kids.

Tim told her about the reasons that drove him to go into the Seals and with the passing of the hours they fell into a comfortable conversation that didn't involve the team at all. For Paige it was a nice changed, all her conversation usually involve the team in some capacity or Ralph but that night with Tim she felt like her old self again, she wasn't a liaison for a group of genius or the mom of a genius. She was Paige, and that´s it, they even joke about Tim playing the guitar while she would sing in some café he knew where there was an open mic night every week. They stop talking when they noticed the sun coming up and marvel at the amount of time they had spent sharing stories with each other, Tim left and promised Paige to call her later that they.

After Tim had left, she went into her room and changed, again she ignore her dead cell phone and got ready to sleep however the second her eyes close Walter´s face was the first thing to appear. His speech before she left with Tim replayed in her head, again and again, she knew that was as close as a declaration she was ever going to get from the genius and without realizing it tears started coming out of her eyes. It was frustrating for Paige to know that even though she had a wonderful time with Tim, her mind and heart wouldn't let go of Walter or the idea of them been together at some point. She tossed and turned for what felt like hours until exhaustion took over her body and she finally felt comfort in her sleep. Again Walter would be the main character of her dreams, but Paige had long resign herself to that and in days like today, she welcomed the chance to be with a Walter that wasn't afraid to reciprocate her feelings. Maybe someday 197 would be that opened about his feelings for her or at least she would be strong enough to move on from her dreams.

 **Notes**

So here it is. It took some time to get the idea right, and I hope I have actually manage to do it, sometimes I can't seem to express myself in the right way. So there is going to be two more chapters after this one. Hope you enjoy it, thanks for taking the time to read it.


	2. Chapter 2

Walter didn't believe in luck. It was just an expression that people used when trying to explain things that escape their understanding just like they used faith and other words when they didn't understand what was happening around them, people are dumb. Tonight, however, he was tempted to used that word to describe his situation which scared him in a way he thought something could ever do. That night he had seen his friend share one moment that usually was associated with happiness. Actually, it was a euphoric moment for everyone for a while, a year ago the thought of any of them finding love or recognizing that the feeling and embracing would have been crazy.

However this year Toby had opened up entirely to Happy and when he started singing confessing his intention to marry her and how much he love her Walter couldn't stop himself turning to see Paige and wondering if maybe at the end there was going to be a future for them. When his friend was proposing Walter couldn't help looking at Paige for a moment and wonder or wish that that would be them in the future. Sure, he had no plans on signing to her like Toby was doing but he would make it special. To be completely honest he had already thought of some scenarios. Of course, his fear that their relationship could compromise Scorpion was very latent in his mind but to see his friends taking this step and the smiles that it brought to everyone gave him hope. Hope, another word he didn't use to say or use a year ago, so many things had changed in his life since the arrival of Paige and Ralph. Life was teaching him that nothing could be as clear and program as he used to think, he still remembered about how he handle his last break up.

Of course, Janice was mad at him when he presented the chart of emotions she was going to be living the next minutes. To his defense Walter honestly thought he was helping or at least not making the situation worst, things had changed from that moment. Walter had notice Paige since the first time he went into the dinner and against his better judgment, he felt drawn to her by some inexplicable force. At first, she fascinated him with his kindness and openess towards every client, but Walter argue with himself about thT been the reason he felt this way toward a stranger, of course, she was paid to be like that with the people she served, right?. He then started to study her which was a little challenging to do because he had the excuse to go there while on dates with Janice and he needed to at least paid some amount of attention to her.

After a while though he looked forward to seeing her and even memorize her schedules and while his relationship with Janice was in decline, however slowly because she really was patient with him his interest in Paige increase. Finally, on that faithful day that Cabe came back into his life he had an opening to bring her into his and to be so fortunate to have ended things with Janice that day make it more possible. Of course, he didn't even realize how much of an impact she had made in him through the day. Walter not only saw himself in Paige's son, Ralph, but he also saw the way he could actually help the kid overcome the obstacles in his future.

Walter had grown in a family that didn't understand him except for his sister if it weren't for Megan, he would have been completely alone and even when Walter thought he had found someone that he could trust and that appreciated his unique intellect in Cabe he was betrayed. It took him years to open up again to people, if he was honest, he used to have a standard EQ but time and bad experiences had made him into the close minded person Walter was today. Feelings didn't matter anymore, people only wanted to use him because of his level of intelligence, and he was not going to care about them, and so the era of 0 EQ Walter started.

And then Paige came, and he remembered how he used to feel and realizing that he had lost so much touch with the world outside Scorpion he was ready to open himself to it again, and she was the way to do it. Thinking back he remembered going back to the group to share the good news about Scorpion finally moving forward with their mission to help others and Toby mentioning Paige. Of course, Toby had noticed his interest in Paige the second he saw them interact, but the doctor had been kind in no mentioning to him, maybe because he just wanted to rejoice at the moment and for once not push him to confront his true feelings.

Days after when Paige finally joined the team, and she felt unsure about her role Walter was more than ready to reassure her about his decision to make her joined them and at the end of the day she prove her worth to the rest. With the months passing, he found himself fighting the urge to shower her with attention, he would only do things that could have another explanation. Their chairs were not the best, and they usually didn't care, but he found the best one and gave it to Paige, but it was logical for her to have it because she was the one in charge of typing reports.

After a couple of missions, he found it harder not to be noticed by the others when he made things special for Paige. Toby started to pester him about the coffee and other things he was seeing, Walter was pretty sure everyone was noticing them, but Sly and Happy wouldn't mention it to him out of respect, or maybe they just didn't care. Paige however, seemed oblivious to his attentions, and he was equally happy and disappointed about it but after many nights and a lot of charts he decided that it was for the best. Relationships end and that is a fact, he would hate to have to fire Paige if they broke up because he was sure it would make an impact on the time.

As time went by things started to change against his will, when Drew came back to rekindle his relationship with Paige and Ralph Walter felt that his place in their life was threatened and even though his logic was telling him that it wasn't his place his heart was screaming to him to do something. His love for Ralph though prevailed and against his heart wishes he helped Drew reconnect with Ralph, which only made Paige took a look back at her relationship with Drew and from there things only got worst.

However nothing prepared him for how awful he would feel when Paige told him that she didn't want Ralph to grow up to be like him, nothing had ever hurt as much as that. Not only because Walter already thought of Ralph as his son but because she was telling him that he wasn't something she wanted in her life. When the accident happened his main thought was to stay alive so she could get to him and he could finally open his heart to her and tell her how much she meant to him, he knew then that he love her. Paige had single handily change his outlook in the world, and it didn't matter how many people had taken advantage of him or punished him for the way he was she alone had restored his faith in the world.

The moment he heard her shout his name Walter found the strength to grab Cabe's hand and fight to stay alive, even if she move to the other side of the world he will find the way to be with her and Ralph. In the time he was away doing his therapy, his mind was mostly occupied by thoughts of Paige and how she shouted his name, theories about what would had happened if he had managed to tell her how much she meant to him appeared at any time doing his routines. His favorite dreamed had appeared in his mind just days after leaving his hospital room and getting into the therapy center, it was a recurring image of Paige been the light surrounded by darkness suddenly she whisper that he care for him and kiss him. Walter was always invaded by a feeling of happiness when he had that dream and even though it was silly sometimes he found himself touching his lips and smiling at the memory of it.

Time progress and he learned that his dream wasn't a dream and things with Paige seemed to have a future, but he was still so afraid of an adverse outcome. Again he favored his brain over his heart and things with Paige didn't progress even though at some times they seemed too, like the time she was in danger on the train. Walter felt himself die when he saw Paige and Ralph passed on the train that lost control and after everything was ok and she told him why she had reacted the way she did when he save them his heart felt ten times bigger. That night at the bar with Cabe and the guys his future was brighter he let his defenses down and smile thinking back at the kiss they share weeks ago when he was conscious and wonder what the future would have for him.

Lost came soon enough to burst the little bubble of happiness that Walter had created for himself and fear overtook him. He couldn't lose Scorpion and date Paige may end up in that, so the risk was too high for him to take, but his love for her never stop, and he needed for it stop so he took the only logical road away from it, he started to see other people. Now maybe he should have accepted the fact that the date went wrong as a sign or that Linda reappeared in his life wearing a bomb like as a message that he shouldn't do that, but he was stubborn.

When Tim arrived at the garage one day Walter dismissed the possibility, he would have to deal with him more than a couple of times, but things were never that simple. Of course, Tim was immediately drawn to Paige, and Walter told himself that he didn't care, but he did. Linda came back to his life and he jump into that bizarre relationship like it was his only option. For a while then he even convinced himself that he was happy but Toby forced him to open his eyes to the reality of it, and he soon found himself alone again. Walter regretted not putting a stop to the Tim situation. Actually, he regretted giving Tim the idea that dating Paige was ok, the worst thing about it was that Tim wasn't a bad guy no matter how much he tried to see him with those eyes and how much background Walter did on him he couldn't found one wrong thing.

Fear started to consume him as days passed by and Tim and Paige got closer together, and even though he tried to convinced himself that he didn't feel threaten his actions proof the contrary. He would never admit that the chocolates were delicious and not bad quality at all. Still Walter wouldn't do anything that could jeopardize Scorpion or his relationship with Paige. So when Happy tried to help him he actually felt empower for a moment but that feeling disappeared so fast, and soon he found himself giving his tickets away and basically proposing that Paige and Tim go away on a weekend together. For a genius, Walter was pretty stupid.

However, he felt validated when he saw Tobys heart break into a million pieces when Happy told him she couldn't marry him because she was married, and everybody found themselves trying to comfort Toby. Walter´s worst fear soon crystallize in front of his eyes, and he knew that he had made the right decision because if he was Toby, he wouldn't be able to breathe. Actually, it was tough for him to breath right now, everything was changing, and he didn't like or do well with change. Toby went to the side, and Walter found himself face to face with Paige and air seemed to vanish second by second, as always she was worried about Toby.

Walter suddenly found himself so consume with emotions that he needed to express them, and he did, he started telling Paige how much he loved her and wondered about what their life could be but, of course, he didn't confess his love for her. He just said it like a third party would be talking about an unfamiliar situation but he could see how much Paige was hoping for him to be honest. And he tried to convince himself to do it he felt like there were two different people inside him fighting. One was telling him to stay strong "You are doing the right thing, Walter, see how much pain is Toby. Scorpion is too important to jeopardize it, is not only your life that you would be gambling with is everyone. Stay strong."

Still, there was the other part of him, the one that could see unshed tears in her eyes that pleaded him to open to her that was shouting in his head "Come on Walter be honest to her and stop the tears that she fighting so much. You are not Toby, and she is not Happy, she was honest with you about how much she cares for you. Remember the kiss Walter there was passion and love in that kiss and you stop it not her, she wanted to kiss you. Is your turned to tell her how much you truly can't move forward from her."

At the end when Paige asked him if she should stay, Walter knew what she was actually asking him, do they have a chance? Would they ever have a chance? And he said no. Paige went away with Tim, and he let her go because the pain would be greater if she stayed now and they took a jump into a future together that may end badly. Walter wanted her to be happy and everyone to be happy even if that means he wouldn't be happy with Paige. His mind didn't rest, he saw Toby get drunk, and when they started talking he was sure he was right, but Toby even at his inebriated state put him in his place in .5 seconds. Also, it seemed like the Dr. had a small crush on Tim.

He soon found himself in his car, not the company car HIS car, calling Paige because he just knew that he had blew it, but she wasn't answering. His mind was a beautiful thing and also a horrible thing depending on the time and situation. For example, now in this situation where the woman he love was in a car with another man on their way to weekend getaway, his mind was so evil to him because the reason she wasn't answering was something that was keeping her from her phone. What could possibly keep her off her cell? Tim.

Walter kept calling her while driving towards Lake Tahoe, he was speeding, and he couldn't care less about it until a policeman stop him and he wanted to shout at that guy because he was making him loose time. He actually told the police that, and he knew he was lucky not to end up in jail and just with a warning and his ticket for speeding, again he went on his way. He stopped calling Paige's cell when it went straight to voicemail and at that point he did scream and punch the side the steering wheel cursing himself for what he had done, he had pushed the situation to the point of that she went away with Tim.

Paige had on multiple occasions asked him to have faith in a future together, sure not on those words but her actions screamed the messages at him, and here alone he could admit to himself that he knew every single time she did them, and he ignore them. Yes, he loves her with all his heart, and now he was terrified of what could come out of this situation.

Finally, he made it to Lake Tahoe, and he went straight to the hotel he heard Tim and Paige talked about for the past week, and they told him that they couldn't give him any information about the guests he tried to explained that it was an emergency, but that did nothing. So he went back to his car and cursed his luck until an idea came to him, he walked back to the hotel and made his way to the business center, quickly he found himself in front of the courtesy computer and hacking the hotel system. A couple of minutes later he finally found their reservation and saw that they hadn't checked in, and his brain went into overdrive.

Why weren't they there? Maybe they decided to go to another hotel, or he was wrong about the name of the hotel. Of course, he wasn't wrong about the name he had memories every detail about that trip and every comment about. Did something happen? Was Paige ok? Walter didn't remember passing any accidents on his way there, and he knew that he had drive on the same roads that they would be using. Still, if they were in an accident that would explain why Paige didn't pick up her phone but there could be more explanations, right? Please don't let it be any accidents he needs her to be safe.

The possibility of an accident kept repeating on his mind and he wanted it to stop right this instant but the only way he could do that if he knew where she was ok so the first thing to do was a search for accidents on the zone. He needed Sly to hack police communications in the city, but he knew that there was no way the genius could help him without alerting Ralph of what was going on so he stopped himself and then clarity came to him. If he couldn't track Paige´s cell he could track Tim´s it was evident that they were together, and there was no way that both cell phones had the same battery issue, so in a few minutes he had finally located Tim´s cellphone, and he almost fell from his chair.

Tim was back in the city, great the moron obviously forgot his cell phone at the garage. However, a quick check made him realize that even though Tim was in the city, he was not near the garage so maybe he didn't forget his cell, was it possible that they had gone back to the city? Walter was confused, but a sense of relief washed over him nonetheless knowing that Paige was safe. There was no time to loose so he walked back to where his car had been and found a sticker on the floor telling him that it had been towed. Due to the hour, there was no way he was going to be able to get back to the city without his car so he spent the next hour getting his car back. Physical and emotional exhaustion started to overtake him, but he fought to stayed awake until his body made it clear that there was no way he was going to make it back.

Reluctantly he booked a hotel room and slept a couple of hours before getting back in the car to go tell Paige how he felt, he was not going to chicken out this time. Next time he sees Paige, he isn't going to stop himself from telling her how much he cared for her like last time he owes it to Happy. Scorpion could survive them been together, but he couldn't survive not been with Paige anymore. Without meaning to, he fell asleep wishing to be with her and hoping that nothing had happened between her and Tim, and even if something had Walter hope that her feelings for him were stronger than the ones she had for Tim. A couple of tears escape his eyes while sleeping at the memory of the scene at the garage where he should have tell her to stayed with him, he would never make that mistake again if given the chance.


End file.
